<div class='quotetop'>QUOTE </div><div class='quotemain'><span class="template"><span class="body"> The Hawks are a long way from cashing in on the playoff promise they made to each other at the start of training camp, roughly six months to be exact.</p> But they can use Friday night's eye-opening 101-94 win over Dallas before a sellout crowd of 19,767 at Philips Arena as a security deposit.</p> Joe Johnson's 19-footer over Brandon Bass with 11.4 seconds to play, after Bass blocked Johnson's first game-clinching shot attempt four seconds earlier, was the final dagger for the Hawks, who opened a season with a win for the first time since the 1998-99 season, their last season that ended with a trip to the playoffs.</p> Johnson has talked for weeks about the Hawks needing to start the 2007-08 season with a bang. And with the Mavericks, the NBA's best team during the 2006-07 regular season, on deck for the season opener that's exactly what he and the Hawks delivered.</p> "I was a senior in high school the last time this happened, so it's been a long time," a smiling Johnson said after his 28-point, seven-rebound, four-assist performance. "But this feels great. It's great to win this game because our next few games are definitely big road games. We have to go into Detroit [Sunday] and try and steal one. But to get this first one ... that's huge for this team."</p> Johnson and Tyronn Lue were huge when the game was on the line. They were catalysts in the crucial final six minutes of the game, when the Hawks had to scramble to hold on to a one-point lead. They took turns trading big basket for big basket with Dallas stars Dirk Nowitzki (28 points) and Jason Terry (20 points).</p> Lue scored six of his 14 points in the final five minutes, including two huge jumpers to keep the Hawks ahead. Marvin Williams was on the receiving end of a sweet Johnson pass and converted a layup in traffic with 41.7 seconds to play that gave the Hawks a commanding 95-90 lead.</div></p> The Atlanta Journal-Constitution</p> </span></span></p>
Joe Johnson, and Lue were real cluth at the end. Williams is showing strides of why he was the 2nd pick, 3 years ago ( i know he was hurt last year). Josh Smith played well too. Big win for this young team/</p>
